The Restart Project

by Startacus Admin

When we hear of people with a vision based on collaboration and creativity, we know we’ll like them and we reckon you will too. In this instance, the ‘people’ we are referring to are Ugo Vallauri and Janet Gunter, the innovative thinkers behind The Restart Project.

The Restart Project is an initiative with admirable aspirations and goals - namely to help promote repair and remaking and in so doing encourage us all to think more carefully and responsibly about our electronics consumption.
And how does it do that? Well, firstly, it has been holding Restart Parties. Basically, these are events held in local communities and attended by all sorts of people - people with the skills and knowledge to repair and fix electronic items and people with a desire to learn how to.
But that’s really just the start. There are a whole host of plans going forward - things like the creation of a crowd generated map and review site - a definitive resource if you like, of repair shops, IT repair people and second hand ICT retailers. The underlying aim of this is to both raise the visibility of these ‘micro entrepreneurs’ and also to help provide a useful resource for consumers and thereby help encourage ICT products being repaired and not dumped.
The development of the website itself so that it becomes more of a platform for discussion, sharing knowledge, tips and advice and the creation of design challenges so that the ‘crowd’ can collaborate on smart solutions to environmental and ethical issues are other prospective plans on the horizon.

If you’re interested in attending one of the Restart parties, there is a calendar on their site detailing all upcoming events and if you want to join their team of repairers, you can do that too by simply completing an online form highlighting your skills, motivations and of course availability.

At the moment there does seem to be something of an increase in these types of projects and initiatives and that can only be a good thing. We’re liking what they’re doing...hope you are too...

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Published on: 7th November 2012